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Now when I were a lad, and all of this were just fields, I used to ride around on my bike and go look at tat car sales places. And then I bought cars from them and drive around to various tat monger car sales places perusing their tat and occasionally buying it.
And one by one these vendors of delightful old bangers closed their doors.
One by one you'd roll up to find a row of gleaming Protons, or caravans or that the place was being redeveloped for housing.
Our local (pre-VAG) Skoda dealer had his trade ins rowed up trade ins and other tat. I remember him having a dirty green 100E Anglia for £400, a tidy sit up & beg pop for £800, a ratty blue Mk2 Consul for £100 and a load of other stuff like Vivas and Mk2 Escorts, Cortinas etc.
I remember another place Iwas looking at a Zephyr 6 in brush painted blue for £400 with some form of MOT in it, probably very short. I remember he had a range of ropey classics from £250 up to £1000 or so, including a '77 Cadillac Seville in white with green vinyl roof and green velour interior with green tinted glass. Cool.
So where did all these places go?
Ok theres not a Morris Minor on every street corner any more but what happened to the good old bomb-site car dealer and his array of tattyolder cars "thats sure to be a collectors item in years to come mate". By rights the same places should still be going but full of Chevettes, Minis, early Metros, Belmonts, MK2 Granadas, misc J-tin, etc. Preferably with a hint of mould growing in the window chanels, soft tyres and flat batteries ("I'll just need to jump that one for ya mate")
there were dozens of them before. How can they all have gone? And they weren;t just regular used car dealers either, they were deliberately selling old "classics" because they would occasionally have a decent 1950s thing in or something, offer "restoration services" or "obsolete parts" and often they were also number plate dealers... But come to think of it you could always find something "classic" on a cheapo car dealers lot anyway, usually at the back there'd be a ropey Morris Minor, Fiat 127 or Chrysler Valiant...
Now about the oldest thing you find on a delaer lot is a 10 year old Rover 45. All three of of my local "Cars from £95 some with MOTs" dealers have gone out of business too, so yes, thew whole bottom end of the market is changed.
I just miss how it was. Do any of these proper old banger classic sales places still exist? About the clostest I can think of are places like Triumphland and Balby Motors.
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2007 11:11:13 GMT by akku
1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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I don't think they do. There some stunning places 10-15 years back... one used to advertise in out local rag 'Super Sid's' or some such. All teh descriptions of the cars were comedic works of flowin' prose, no attempt to 'sell' them whatsoever.... 'one careful lady owner (and 13 terrible ones)' kind of thing. Problem is now that land = money there are no cheap sites anywhere, add on business rates and there is no way these businesses are viable on 'prominent' sites. All (and I really mean ALL) of the old places where you could buy cheap old crocks round our way have been flattened to make way for "luxury" (what??) apartments and "executive" (i.e. poky) houses. I reckon that the traders are still out there, just using different media.... a bit of old field / barnyard rented off a farmer, a mobile phone and an eBay account is where it is at now. Just a shame we won't be seeing two-tone brush-painted PC Cresta's at £495 on high street forecourts no more.  |
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Blimey, you appear to have a lot on your mind recently, AK!
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Just a shame we won't be seeing two-tone brush-painted PC Cresta's at £495 on high street forecourts no more. Nope, on eBay for £495 start, his mate will bid you up to £800 and he'll end the auction the day beopfre if its not made what he wants it to go for. While you can get a bacon buttie while perusing eBay irts not the same as the real thing, not the same as that sudden pang as your heartrate rises when you catch a glimse of something you really really need to own parked on the bomber's lot, the Chrysler 180 parked in with the Mk5 Escorts and such... Price on the windscreen in trainer-whitener. |
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,416
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Well up here in the NE we have a couple of big cheapy places but not really retro's/cheap classics just Bangers.
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With scrap prices most of it is probably going straight to the crusher. Also liability issues even on ‘trade sales’ make it too much hassle?
As Pog says, I suspect a lot of it ends up on eBay. You get the impression from many listings that it’s not the long-time owner selling their car
New car dealers probably have a deal with an auction house where everything goes to, they don’t have a network of small local places buying off them.
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Really does take me back this ;D
I remember when me an me dad went out to purchase my first car, the mighty skoda estelle...
It was from a garage that had all the 'good stuff' (ex-fleet Astra's & Cavaliers) at the front... and the occasional 'classic' in the 1-car showroom... normally this would be an MGB with a shonky resto, but occasionally they had some oddities - a few years earlier my dad had bought an '81 Rover SD1 VdP V8 from them for the pricely sum of £1250: bargain!
Round the back was all kinds of detritous. On the day I had my pick of the tat... A 1.3 Cavalier with rotten arches for £395, Renner 9 with a flat tyre for £195, Mazda 929 wagon for £95. In the tradition of things we settled for the '84 Estelle, as it was by far the healthiest looking thing there, and we knew a thing or too about them already, Pops having just replaced his 105S with a Favorit. The sticker price was £295 which was haggled down to £195 and away we went with my steed, covered in a film of dust and bird poo. QUALITY.
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Trading standards is a much bigger thing than it was, too. It isnt really worth selling a truly ropey car to the public anymore. Thats where all the "cars with MOT for £95" places have gone, too. If I get a rusty, scuffed high mileage Escort with a months MOT in part ex I just sell it to a roadside trader or a mechanic that wants a runabout for fifty quid, no point trying to get £100 by "retailing" it to some silly sod who thinks he`s going to get a fantastic car for that sort of money then give you a load of grief when the clutch packs up. I still retail the odd bordeline classic from the cheap end, provided they're solid and mechanically sound, and not likely to go wrong and cause me problems - there was a nice Sierra and a 205 XS this year, and last year I sold funnily enough a Belmont (C-reg 50k full history), a D-reg Colt (70k full history) a couple of very old 323s and a Maestro. Other thing - twenty years ago a ten year old car looked old - this is what a ten year old car looks like now: (in fact this one will be nearly 12 years old now)  |
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2007 11:45:09 GMT by vicsmith
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It is not the same as the real thing, not the same as that sudden pang as your heartrate rises when you catch a glimse of something you really really need to own parked on the bomber's lot Nail on the head there! I thought it was just me getting old-er, but thing have changed. I understand Vics points too, people want everything for nothing, they want discout deals without the warts. i wouldn't like to do it. |
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 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts  |
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New car dealers probably have a deal with an auction house where everything goes to, they don’t have a network of small local places buying off them. Damn, you've pre-empted thread 3 - "not what it used to be - motor auctions". I used to go down the motor auctions and there was great stuff there, lets forget the late 80s/early 90s when it was full of Hillman Avengers, Chrysler Sunbeams and if yo want to knwo where all the Talbot Alpines went - Leciester Car Auctions is the answer. I saw them knocking them out at £30 - £90 a car. I also remember a lot of Land Crabs inclu=ding a Crayford conversion one which had a hatchback. That fetched a who[pping £600 and it was mint. Big money for a landcrab nack then. Usually they were £30-£40 or nobidder cars. Especially the Wolesely, nobody wanted them, too dated looking. At least the Austin/Morris loked a bit like a Maxi or something half modern... But even just a few years abck I used to pick up some great cars cheap at Colwick auction. I used to drive down, bid, drive home, cycle back on my brothers old BMX (yeah, a childs one) and throw in in the boot of whatever I just bought and bring it home. One day I bid on a mint Panda with a roll top roof (I was out at £150) , a ropey Jaguar XJ6 4.2 (I ran out of cash at £90 as I'd just bought something else that day), a Volvo 240 and something else Japanese, I forget. I came away with a Mk2 Cavalier for £110 if thats the day I think it was. I also had two good Capris on separate occasions, and I'm sure osme other great stuff. Last tiem I bought was maybe 2 years ago and I had a '91 Saab 9000 2.0 16v for £170 which was cheap but not so retro fun, and it was the oldest car in the hall by about 5 years! Some of my auction buys...    but other than that is was all ex-finance, Daewoos, I mean loads of Matizes |
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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In addition - Who would buy those sorts of things now? Take for example 'Er Indoors' sister and her last husband (can't remember which number he was).... serial benefit scroungers, bit 'jeremy kyle'... went down to 'Yes' car credit and were welcomed with open arms. 3-year old Mongdeo on 100-year no deposit finance at 30% APR... anyone can get credit now, and if it's offered, the terminally thick, lame and lazy are gonna take it. What are they going to do if you default anyway - they can take the car, but seeing as your house is provided free by the housing association and all your other possesions are on tick to.....  It's a crazy world.  |
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Have to echo whats been said above, especially the scrap prices. 10-15 years ago youd be lucky to get £8 per ton. Now its hovering around £110 for light iron, i.e old shonky cars. The crusher wont haggle, doesnt mind about the slipping clutch or mismatched paint and is always a satisfied customer. No contest really.
That black capri is SEX! I bought one the same as it for £40 to race few years ago from an old giffer but it was mega clean, a neighbour fell in love with it and bought it for £100 and I still really miss it. Needed 2 patches underneath and the brakes sorting. Looked gorgeous after a good waxing. Best car I never had on the road! Wish I could buy another for £40! £240 is the "new" £40 nowadays.
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1987 Maestro 1.6 HL perkins diesel conversion 1986 Audi 100 Avant 1800cc on LPG 1979 Allegro Series 2 special 4 door 1500cc with vynil roof. IN BITS. HERITAGE ISSUES.  |
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I paid £70 for that one, ran it for a year or so and sold it again for £70 but by that time it needed a clutch, an exhaust and something else. All my repairs were stuff like "cracked mirror glass" and "indiscator inop". At that time it wasn't worth spending a coupe of hundred quid on it. Is 1998 really a decade ago?
Now I'm wondering what happened to Nottingham Capri Centre where I got my various bits for it from? A scrap yard just full of Capris!
The grey 1.6LS I paid £250 for which my MOT man at the time thought was way too much. Sold it for £550. It was timewarp minty fresh though.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Miller
Part of things
Posts: 87
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Out in the sticks in Devon there are a few places about like that still, although not on the scale it once was. Theres a small garage down the road that sells new fords mostly (the showroom consists of a couple of focus's and a Mondeo) with a huge work shop out the back and behind that the house where the family that runs it lives. Along the side of the house is a row of trade in stuff, old 626 Mazdas and 405s and the like. Amoung these and the odd part stripped mk3 Fiestas are some real jems. Theres a mouldy silver Lancia Delta tucked in the corner, next to a bright orange rotten T plate chevette thats been there for years (which my mate tried to buy to find the owner who wasn't to do with the garage wanted £400 for it cos it would make "such a strong rally car") and mk1 metros. They are happy to sell all of it (as long as it's clear its a work in progress and your not going to hold them liable) but don't seem to make any effort in doing so and as a result they all just sit there getting rusty. I once brought a Y reg Polo Coupe which had sat there for at least 18 months which they put through an MOT for me for £100 (although two days later it threw itself into a 360 spin and collided with a royal mail van). I remember a small scrappy that was down the road from that garage, it had been there for years but didn't have much turn over. A quick wander past the stacked up bangers and you taken into a timewarp to the late 80s. The guy always had Maestro's and occasionally 70s BL stuff with MOT for sale for £50 a throw. Unfortunatly it was all buldozed two years ago. There was a gorgeous big early 70s Datsun that had sat under a car cover for ages but I'm guessing that was bulldozed too.  They do seem to be disapearing fast, I'm just out of my teens but I can remeber loads of places like these that have gone. Any that are still around seem to have cleared out the majority of tat or just send it off for crushing after a week. |
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I can't believe I didn't notice these places disappearing (or even think about it) but you're right! I remember the place that almost sold me a Ford Zephyr hearse, the bloke tried to convince me it had a 5 speed box on the end of that column change And 3 miles down the road there was a brush painted Zodiac, I opened the bonnet to see a straight 6 evenly covered in surface rust and a carburettor off a 50cc moped on top I suppose that now we have a higher standard of living (and a much higher level of debt - I wonder if they're connected?). Thinking back to my street 20 years ago when I was a mere lad of 16 and there were quite a few cars from the early 1970s still around. Cars from the early 70s that always needed welding for the MoT. Now you'll really struggle to see anything more than 8 years old outside most houses. That must mean the market for cheap cars has collapsed. There'll always be a few weiredos around (on here ;D) who'll have something old, but the days of the average family man having a 12-15 year old car have long gone. |
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Ithe days of the average family man having a 12-15 year old car have long gone. Do you think this is why there are no 20-25 year old cars now? |
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Do you think this is why there are no 20-25 year old cars now? That's a tricky one - a look on ebay will show that there are lots of cars from the early 80s around but the internet has spoiled us a bit because if you look in most streets you just won't see them. It must be because people just aren't interested in having old cars now, this is down to a few reasons I think: 1. Cars really are cheaper now. For £1000 you can get something with aircon, a 2 litre engine, airbags, service history and it'll do 120mph all day and 10,000 miles a year. 20 years ago for £1000 you'd get something which broke down quite a lot, the only 'equipment' was a heated rear window and half the elements wouldn't work. 2. Getting your car repaired is a farkin expensive business these days. Dealers charge £80 an hour so even independent garages can get away with £50 an hour. This can make a 4 hour job cost more than the car is worth 3. Everyone wants a higher standard of living. I swear I'm the only person in the world who doesn't have 2 grands worth of plasma TV in the house. Everyone wants a nice new car on the drive, as proved by Yes Car Credit and other cowboys having a booming business |
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The thing that really annoys me about Yes Car Credit is that you can go there with near enough f**k all and drive away in a near new Mondeo, but you can also get an Audi TT in the same way with probably not much put down! YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT!!!
There is a garage in Northfield, Birmingham that has a few classics/retro's come in every now and again, but nothing you could call regular.
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Well, Yes Car Credit went out of business. But theres a line of other operators ready to fill that void.
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Those 2 Capris both look gorgeous, you wont find anything like that at an auction now! It is all just exmotability, ex company cars, main dealer part exs and of course lemons that people have bought and cant fix and want shot of.
The other thing about selling cars "as is" - sell someone a Cortina 15 years ago for £100, clutch goes, simple job, bloke fixes it or in the unlikely event he does moan give him his £100 back, tell him to f*ck off, sell it to the next man.
Same thing happens with a MK1 Mondeo now - clutch is a 2 day job, who`s going to stand that - guy who bought it cant do it in his driveway, trader isnt gonna want it back on his toes, answer - don't bother with it in the first place, if it isnt good enough to go up at at least £595 then bo11ox to it.
Gradually old sh*tters are disappearing, scrap metal prices means loads are going that way - as Lankytim says, the crusher is a perfect customer, also loads are being confiscated due to no insurance, and they get bailed regardless, I`ve stood and watched nice looking cars getting bailed one after the other for this very reason.
As far as finance is concerned, not only can any didicoy get it now but also once they're into it it`ll have them strapped up for years, by the time they`ve had the ex-repmobile 2 years its worth about a quarter of what they still owe, who`s gonna deal them up when they need £5k trade in for a car worth £1500? These people would otherwise be buying a selection of sheds over the course of the 5 years and now they wont. This could well stem back from a surplus of ex-company cars due to the fact that all sorts of people get company cars now that wouldnt have done before - you know, all these f*ckers that have been there 20 years that get a company car chucked at them instead of a payrise even though they`re office based and live round the corner. Yeah full of doom and gloom but this weather is bringing all the nobheads out today I`ve had enough!
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